A Borders parish church has decided to withdraw its funds from the Church of Scotland Growth Trust in protest, following the Church’s decision not to disinvest from fossil fuels.

The board and session at Selkirk Parish Church agreed the move after this year’s General Assembly voted to continue engaging with the fossil fuels industry.

In a letter sent to the Church of Scotland Investors Trust, the church stated: “As an eco-congregation, we do not believe it is ethically acceptable to invest in, and gain profit from, companies whose main aim is to continue to explore for, and to extract, fossil fuels…

“We disagree with the Church of Scotland’s policy to continue to ‘engage’ with these companies as being impractical and ineffective. Many large institutions, including cities, universities, some pension funds, the British Medical Association, the Church of Ireland and the United Reformed Church in Scotland have already agreed to fully divest from all fossil fuel exploration and extraction. We believe that the Church of Scotland should be leading the way for others, and should fully divest now from all companies involved in fossil fuel exploration and extraction; this would give a stronger signal to these companies than any engagement is ever likely to do.

“Within Selkirk Parish Church, we are committed to caring for God’s creation. We can no longer wait for the Church of Scotland to act in this matter, so we are taking our own small steps to make ourselves ‘fossil free’. Withdrawing our funds is one step in this journey that we are able to make now, and therefore we are doing so. We hope that other congregations may follow our example.

“The funds withdrawn may be either reinvested in an ethical fund or used to part-fund a children and families worker; we consider this to be a much better way to invest for growth in God’s Kingdom.”